Bottle case



T. BOX

BOTTLE CASE July 9, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 24, 1967 4 fl w 2 2:? i J I m J: Fhlhlhl E T a. H 4 1 1 J 1 J H w C l W m r. LH|||| 1|||I{:| M m 5 I I I I I I 1 I I I 4 l I I I I: I a I I 5 I I I I 5 4,

INVENTOR THEODGE 50X ATTORNEY July 9, 1968 ox 3,391,815

BOTTLE CASE Filed Aug. 24, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 y/j W SAND -A Ill! W T6EODOE 50X BY rr wz. 24m

ATTORNEY United States Patent Office Patented July 9, 1968 3,391,815 BOTTLE CASE Theodor Box, 57-02 251st St., Little Neck, N.Y. 11362 Filed Aug. 24, 1967, Ser. No. 663,028 4 Claims. (Cl. 220-21) ABSTRACT OF THE DiSCLOSURE Bottle storage and carrying cases of the type designed with the tops of the bottles projecting above the upper edge of the cases, to serve as support for the stacking thereon of a similar case, and with the bottom wall of the cases provided with depressions registering with the tops of the bottles in the case below of a stack, are subject to the difliculty, especially during transport of the cases over roller-type and the like gravity-operated transporting devices or slides, of being diverted and forced ofr their path, as a result of one or more friction rollers or disks engaging the depressions in the bottom wall of the cases. This difficulty is of an especially serious nature, where the bottom walls of the cases are fitted with sets of intersecting stiffening ribs merging into said depressions in the form of ramps extending radially outwardly from said depressions, to cause the tops of the bottles to cam with said ramps, to, facilitate withdrawal of the cases from a stack, in the manner shown and described in greater detail in copending patent application Ser. No. 441,436, filed by the present applicant on Mar. 22, 1956, now Patent No. 3,349,943. According to further copending application filed by the present applicant on June 7, 1967, the foregoing difiiculty is overcome or reduced by the provision of a number of discrete elevations extending from the bottom walls of the cases flush with said ribs and being distributed substantially uniformly over the areas exterior of said depressions. While the difficulty mentioned could be overcome in this manner when using transport devices fitted with friction rollers which extend over a substantial portion of the width of the cases being transported, the results obtained have not been fully satisfactory in other cases, especially where, in the interest of reduced weight and cost, said rollers are replaced by a number of spaced and relatively narrow disks frictionally engaging the bottom walls of the cases. In accordance with the present improvement, the remaining difficulty is substantially overcome by the use of, preferably ring-shaped, elevations being chamfered radially outwardly and distributed over the outer surface of the bottom walls, said elevations having a chamfer angle substantially conforming to and coinciding with the incline angle of the ramps extending radially from said depressions.

The present invention relates to bottle storage and carrying cases, more particularly of the type produced by molding in a single unitary operation from a suitable high-impact plastic, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, or a similar synthetic thermoplastic or thermosetting material.

The invention is more specifically concerned with bottle carrying cases of this type for the storage, transport or shipment and distribution of beverages, liquid foods and the like products, where the bottles or the like containers are stored in the cases in predetermined rows with the tops or caps of the bottles projecting above the upper edge of the cases and providing a bearing surface within a horizontal plane, to enable the positioning or stacking thereon of another similar case with the bottom wall of the latter resting upon the caps of the first case forming a bearing surface or support therefor.

Bottle cases of the foregoing type have already become known which are provided with means to align one case with another case in a stack, said means consisting essentially in the provision of recesses or depressions in the undersurface of the bottom Walls of the cases, said depressions conforming to or being adapted to receive the tops or caps of the bottles disposed in the cases immediately below of a stack of cases. In other words, in the known bottle cases the caps of the bottles nest with or engage the recesses in the adjoining cases of the stack.

A seriously felt drawback and defect of bottle cases of the aforedescribed type is due to the necessity of having to first lift a case from the case below of a stack before it can be safely withdrawn or removed without the danger of damage to or breakage of the tops or caps of the bottles. While a slight initial lifting of the case to be withdrawn has been found sufficient to avoid the danger mentioned, practice has shown that this precaution is ordinarily ignored in that the more natural urge is to pull the cases olf horizontally from the stack, whereby to involve the dangers mentioned and to result in the eventual loss of the materials stored in the bottles or the like containers. This difliculty is increased further where the bottom walls are fitted with known and intersecting reinforcing or stiffening ribs, to provide adequate mechanical strength of the cases with a minimum of wall thickness and, in turn, reduced cost and weight of the cases. Furthermore, in case of relatively high stacks manual lifting becomes increasingly diflicult the greater the height of the stack, as will be understood.

The foregoing drawbacks and difficulties are substantially overcome by the improvement according to aforementioned copending application Ser. No. 441,436, now Patent No. 3,349,943, the latter involving essentially the provision of a bottle carrying case of the referred to type comprising a pair of side walls, a pair of end walls, and a bottom wall having an outer surface provided with a multiplicity of part-spherical or shallow depressions distributed over the outer surface of the case and being relatively aligned and spaced from each other such as to register with the caps of the bottles stored in the case below in a stack.

More particularly, there are provided in accordance with the improvement according to said copending application retaining means in the form of retaining ribs extending radially outwardly from the periphery of the depressions and having wedge-shaped inner end portions forming guide ramps of gradually increasing height from a point near said periphery to the full height of the ribs. If a case constructed in this manner is pulled off or withdrawn from a stack, the aforementioned ramps in camrning with the edges of the caps of the bottles will result in the first case being lifted slightly, to thereby facilitate its ready removal or withdrawal without the danger of damage to or breakage of the bottles.

According to a preferred construction, the retaining ribs are continuous from depression to depression, to act as reinforcing or stiffening ribs of the bottom walls of the cases, to increase the mechanical strength of the cases, in the manner and for the purpose pointed out.

Bottle carrying cases of the aforedescribed type, while avoiding or minimizing the danger of damage to or breakage of the bottles during withdrawal from a stack, have been found to be subject to other difliculties and drawbacks during loading and unloading of the cases by means of conventional gravity operated roller-type transporting devices, such as in the form of inclined slides or chutes. In the latter case, one or more of the friction rollers rotatively supported by the devices are liable to engage with the ramps or depressions in the bottom Wall of the cases, whereby to result in the cases being diverted and eventually completely forced olf the transport path or devices.

The last-mentioned difliculty is reduced or overcome by the improved construction according to copending application Ser. No. 647,499 by the cases being fitted upon their bottom surface with a multiplicity of discrete projections or elevations of a height being equal to or flush with the height of the reinforcing ribs of the cases, said elevations being located within the areas exterior of the bottle cap locating depressions and being substantially uniformly distributed over said areas. In other words, there is provided by the improved construction according to the copending application an all over increased outer supporting surface within a plane coinciding with the stiffening ribs and being the practical equivalent of a more or less smooth bottom Wall, resulting thereby in the prevention or reduction of the drawback and defect mentioned.

Further details regarding the type of bottle case forming the subject of the present invention will appear from both the aforementioned copending patent applications the disclosures of which are thereby embodied in the instant application by reference.

It has furthermore been found that, while the previously mentioned diflieulties of the cases being diverted and eventually forced off the transport path or device can be overcome satisfactorily where the devices are fitted with solid friction rollers extending over the entire or a substantial portion of the width of the cases. The results obtained with transport devices wherein said rollers are replaced, in the interest of reduced weight and cost, by a number of spaced rotating disks have been less satisfactory in that a sudden or impact-like interference between said disks and the depressions or guide and stiffening ribs may result in the eventual ejection of a case by a cumulative effect of the defects or forces mentioned.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is the provision of an improved carrying case of the referred to type by which the foregoing and related remaining difficulties inherent in the prior constructions are substantially overcome or minimized.

A more specific object of the invention of the provision of an improved carrying case of the referred to type suitable especially, though not limitatively, for use in connection with gravity-operated rotary disk-type slides or transporting devices employed for the loading and unloading of the cases for storage and/or shipment.

The invention, both as to the foregoing and ancillary objects as well as novel aspects thereof, will be better understood from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification and in which:

FIGS. 1 and 2 show different types of gravity-operated transporting devices used for the loading and un loading of bottle cases according to the invention;

FIG. 3 is a part front elevation and part sectional view of a bottle storage and carrying case of the type forming the subject of the invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary bottom view of the case according to FIG. 3, having embodied therein the improvement according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken on line 55 of FIG. 4; and

FIGS. 5a and 5b are fragmentary detail views of FIG. 5, illustrating modifications of the latter.

Like reference numerals denote like parts throughout the different views of the drawings.

With the foregoing objects in view, the present invention substantially overcomes the remaining difiiculties mentioned in the use of bottle carrying cases of the referred to type by the provision of preferably ring-shaped elevations surrounding the depressions in the bottom wall of the cases and being substantially uniformly distributed over said wall symmetrically with the guide and stiffening ribs projecting from said wall, said elevations, according to the present improvement, having a chamfered cross-section, as viewed in the radial or outward directions, with the chamfer angle substantially conforming to and coinciding with the incline angle of the guide ramps or stiffening ribs according to the prior constructions. There is avoided in this manner the existence of any sharp corners or edges, while retaining the effects of the guide ramps as pointed out, resulting thereby in the complete avoidance of the dangers mentioned, in a manner as will become further apparent as the description proceeds in reference to the drawings.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown a roller-type gravity-operated transport slide comprising a pair of parallel side pieces 10 and 11 connected by a plurality of friction rollers 12 which are fitted with bearing pins 13 rotatively mounted in said side pieces like the rungs of a ladder. Numeral 14 indicates a case placed upon the slide to be transported by gravity in the direction of the arrow by positioning the slide at a proper incline angle, in a manner readily understood. As can be seen, the rollers 12 by extending over a substantial portion of the width of the case 14 tend to maintain the case in aligned position, provided the case is constructed with a sufiiciently smooth bottom surface, such as shown by copending application Ser. No. 647,499.

On the other hand, where the rollers 12 of FIG. 1 are replaced, in the interest of reduced weight and cost, by rows of relatively narrow disks 16 with the disks of adjacent rows being staggered relative to each other in the manner shown in FIG. 2, renewed difiiculties are encountered even with cases constructed according to the last-mentioned copenuing application, in that engagement between one or more disks with the guide or stiffening ribs may still result in the drawbacks and defects mentioned, that is, a diversion and eventual forcing off of a case from the transport path. This may be the result of cumulative action of the forces or diversions involved.

The foregoing difiiculties will be further appreciated by reference to FIG. 3 showing a case according to the copending applications partly in elevation and partly in section and supported by a transport slide according to FIG. 2. More particularly, the case shown in the drawing, being of rectangular shape, comprises a bottom wall 18, a pair of end walls 20 and a pair of side walls 21, said walls having a minimum wall thickness compatible with adequate strength and mechanical stability of the cases. The case may be subdivided in a known manner into rows of compartments by the provision of intersecting separating walls 22 for the storing therein of a number of bottles or the like containers 23 having caps 24 which project above the upper edge of the case, in such a manner as to cause the surfaces of the caps 24 to define a supporting surface for the mounting thereon of a similar case.

For the latter purpose, the bottom wall 18 is provided with a plurality of relatively shallow or part-spherical depressions or recesses 25 spaced and arranged so as to engage the caps or tops 24 of the bottles in the case below of a stack, said depressions being surrounded by ribs 26 extending radially outwardly from the periphery thereof with the inner portions 26a of said ribs being shaped to form ramps gradually merging into said depressions, in the manner shown in FIG. 4 and further described and shown by the copending applications. The ribs 26 are advantageously extended from depression to depression in both the longitudinal and crosswise directions, to provide intersecting sets of stiffening or reinforcing ribs, as shown at 28 in FIG. 4. Additional intersecting stiffening ribs 27 and 29 interposed between the ribs 28 may be provided, to increase the mechanical strength and stability of the cases.

In order to prevent a case constructed according to FIG. 3 from becoming diverted and eventually forced off its transport path according to FIGS. 1 and 2, a plurality of discrete elevations 31 and 32, FIG. 3, projecting from the undersurface of the bottom wall 18 are provided,

said elevations having a height equal to the height of the ribs 26 and being substantially uniformly distributed over the areas of the walls 18 exteriorly of the depressions 25, so as not to interfere with the proper function of the ramps 26a during withdrawal of a case from the case below in a stack, in the manner described.

While the construction according to copending application Ser. No. 647,499, with the preferably ring-shaped elevations 31 and 32 being of constant height throughout and corresponding to the height of the ribs 26, have been found satisfactory under certain conditions, in particular where the transport devices are fitted with more or less throughgoing rollers according to FIG. 1, the previous drawbacks and difficulties could not be fully overcome in other cases, especially where transporting devices or slides of the type according of FIG. 2 are employed.

For the latter reason and, more particularly, in order to adapt the cases for their safe and effective use in conjunction with transport slides according to FIG. 2 or equivalent devices, the elevations 31, FIGS. 4 and 5, have a radially outwardly chamfered or bevelled shape, as shown at 31a, the chamfer angle substantially conforming to and coinciding with the incline angle of the ramps 26a of the ribs 26 and the extent of the chamfer, indicated by the circle 31b, corresponding with the extent of the ramps, as shown more clearly in FIG. 4. As a consequence, sharp corners and the like discontinuities are substantially avoided, to thereby overcome the remaining drawbacks and difficulties encountered in the use of cases according to the copend'ing applications.

While the elevations are shown in FIG. 4 as shown located in part along a first inner circle, that is elevations 31, and in part along an outer circle, that is, elevations 32, it will be understood that the elevations may "be relatively arranged and distributed over the bottom wall of the case in any other desired manner, as shown for instance by the copending applications, it being essential for the purpose of the instant application that they are bevelled within the range of and corresponding to the ramps 26, as indicated by the circle 31b in the drawing. Besides, the elevations 32 may be of different size from the elevations 31, or elevations of varying size or diameter'may be provided along either of the inner and outer circles, to suit any existing conditions or requirements.

While ring-shaped elevations 31 and 32 are shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, solid or disk-shaped elevations may be provided, as shown at 33, FIG. 5a, or the openings of the rings may be extended through the bottom wall 18 in the interest of further reducing weight and cost, as shown at 34, FIG. 5b.

In the foregoing the invention has been described in reference to a specific exemplary device. It will be evident, however, that variations and modifications, as well as the substitution of equivalent parts for those shown herein for illustration, may be made in accordance with the broader scope and spirit of the' invention as set forth in the appended claims. The specification and drawings are accordingly to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

I claim:

1. A bottle case of the type described comprising in combination:

(1) a pair of side walls, a pair of end walls, and a bottom wall,

(2) said case adapted for the storing therein of bottles with the caps of the bottles projecting above the top edge of the case, to provide a supporting surface by said caps for the stacking thereon of a similar case,

(3) said bottom wall being provided upon its undersurface with a multiplicity of shallow depressions spaced relative to each other and distributed over said surface such as to register with the caps of the bottles stored in the case below in a stack,

'(4) a pair of sets of spaced reinforcing ribs projecting outwardly from said bottom surface with the ribs of one set intersecting the ribs of the other set,

(5) said depressions coinciding with intersection points of said ribs and said ribs being interrupted at the areas of said depressions and having inner wedgeshaped portions of a height gradually decreasing towards and merging into said depressions, to form ramps intervening between said ribs and depressions, and

(6) a multiplicity of discrete elevations projecting from said bottom surface and distributed uniformly over the areas between and symmetrically with said ribs exteriorly of said depressions,

(7) at least the elevations intervening between said ramps being chamfered in the radial directions with the chamfer angle conforming to and coinciding with the incline angle of said ramps.

2. A bottle case as claimed in claim 1, said elevations consisting of integral ring-shaped elements encircling apertures in and projecting from said bottom wall.

3. A bottle case as claimed in claim 1, said elevations consisting of integral disk-shaped elements projecti g from said bottom wall.

4. A bottle case as claimed in claim 1, said elevations arranged along the circumference of a pair of inner and outer circles concentric with said depressions with the inner circle coinciding with the outer ends of said ramps and with the elevations along said inner circle being of chamfered cross-section and the elevations along the outer circle being of constant height equal to the height of said ribs.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,535,493 12/1950 Gerber. 3,092,284 6/1963 Stout 220-21 3,349,943 10/1967 Box 22021 THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner.

G. E. LOWRANCE, Assistant Examiner. 

